Easy Spanish Rice

Spanish rice is one of those things that I figure should be easy, but has never really turned out that good for me. I hate the packaged stuff, but love what I get in a Mexican restaurant. This tried and true Spanish Rice recipe is a favorite with my whole family. I forgot to take a picture -- sorry!

Easy Spanish Rice

2 T vegetable oil
1 1/2 cups white rice (I use Jasmine just because I always have that but you can use whatever)
1 small onion, chopped
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4-1/2 teaspoon cumin
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
3 cups chicken broth
1 14.5-ounce can diced tomatoes
1/4 cup cilantro, chopped
1/4 lime
1 scallion, green and white parts chopped

Heat a pan over medium heat. Add oil and heat until it shimmers. Add the rice, onion and garlic, stir until the rice is coated with the oil, and the onions soften. Add the cumin and salt and stir for one minute (it helps release the spice when you heat it in the pan). Add the chicken broth and canned tomatoes (with juice). Simmer the rice for about 15 minutes, until it absorbs all the liquid. If you need to add more liquid, add 1/2 cup at a time and simmer until gone. When the rice is cooked, top with cilantro and scallion, then squeeze the lime juice over it.

An easy, quick side and a big hit with my family!

Shirley

Paula's Yummy Enchiladas

I made a recipe my friend gave me the other day and it was a huge hit with everyone in the house. My daughter, who LOVES Mexican food, particularly burritos and enchiladas, went back for seconds, and had the leftovers the next day. The only change I made was to add some cheese to the beef mixture (and also top it with cheese as instructed) because we love cheese ;-)

For me, this recipe made two 13" X 9" pans of enchiladas--I think it was about 12 or 14. They were eaten pretty fast, LOL, so I didn't really pay much attention. Because I had so many, I used extra enchilada sauce, too. So here is Paula's recipe, with the amounts I used added by me :-)

Paula's Enchiladas

2 packages soft tortilla shells ( I like the corn but the flour are bigger usually and the rest of the fam likes them better)
1 can Enchilada sauce
1 can Cream of mushroom soup (i know, sounds weird but it works)
1 pound Ground Beef or Ground turkey
1 can refried beans
grated cheese (any kind you want, I usually use the "mexican blend" or cheddar)

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Cook the beef, heat the shells in the microwave to make them soft. LIGHTLY coat the bottom of a flat baking pan with the enchillada sauce. Mix the soup and cooked beef and refried beans in a bowl. [I added cheese here, about 3/4 of a cup of shredded Mexican blend]. Lay the tortillas and spoon in your mixture. Roll them. Place them in the pan and then use a spoon to spoon over a light coat of the echillada sauce over each tortilla. Then apply cheese generously :) Wrap baking pan in foil , then just before they are done take off foil for another couple of minutes.

You can pretty much wing it on the baking time as its already cooked you just need to heat it up and make the cheese melt. [all together, I think mine spent about 20 minutes in the oven; just until everything was bubbly and the cheese was all melty].

Thanks to Paula for a fabulous recipe that I'll definitely be making again! She was right about the soup--you don't taste it in the final product; it just adds that extra creaminess factor. I use the same kind of thing in my Mexican Catalina Bake.

Enjoy!

Shirley

Mexican Chicken Soup You'll Be Talking About

I love soup. Something about it...the simplicity of it, I suppose. I'm not always wild about making it. I mean, soup can have a lot of steps. Not all of them are just dump and walk away, KWIM?

This soup, which I have made several times, has lots of steps but let me tell you...

They are worth the work. This recipe is another Ina Garten one (my goodness, I think I'm turning into her clone ;-) and I have to say the end result looks better than my picture and hers. Go the extra mile and use homemade chicken stock. It's SO WORTH IT. And listen to the Barefoot Contessa and roast those chicken breasts. You'll be glad you did.

You don't have to roast them the day you make the soup. I often roast several chicken breasts at a time when I'm making dinner and freeze the extra. And when I make stock, I make a TON. I have this huge stock pot that is supposed to be for canning (though I have good intentions of getting around to canning, I never do, so I use it for stock making instead) and from that, I can get a good 20 cups of stock. I freeze it in small, varied size batches for different applications. Six cups for soup, one cup for other recipes, two cups for sauces.

I don't have coriander, so I don't put that in. It's one of those can't-ever-find-it-in-Kroger things, so I don't have it. I just use extra cilantro. And sometimes instead of one 28-ounce can of pureed tomatoes, I'll use two 14-ounce diced Mexican flavored tomatoes. Yeah, I know. I live dangerously ;-)

Get the fresh cilantro, and also do the fresh tortillas for a garnish. It really tastes super yummy. You'll be glad you did. In fact, I'm never sorry I splurged on a few fresh ingredients!

Now that it's warmer out, the stores are starting to carry potted herbs, so you can just buy a basil plant or a parsley, or a cilantro if you're going to use a lot of it...keep it in the window, it'll smell nice, look nice and be there when you need it!

I served this soup to guests for a Mexican night and it was such a big hit, they asked for the recipe and made it at their house a few days later :-)

Shirley

A Hot Recipe for a Cold Night: White Chili

I like chili, especially traditional chili, but I've never been a big fan of white chili. Then I came across a couple of recipes for it, and decided to blend the best features of both, and try my own variation.

The result? A wow recipe that had even me, the non-white chili fan, coming back for seconds, and reaching for the chili for lunch :-)

White Chicken Chili

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 cup onions, chopped

1 cup green pepper, chopped

2 tablespoons pickled jalapeno (comes in a jar in the Mexican food aisle), chopped

4 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons chili powder
2 teaspoons cumin
1/2 teaspoon cinnamon
1 teaspoon kosher salt (or regular; I just prefer to cook with kosher)
2 cups chicken broth (I used the broth I made from the chickens I roasted the other day)
2 15-ounce cans Great Northern beans, drained
1 pound cooked chicken, shredded (again, from those chickens I roasted; I just made two instead of one)
1/2 cup whipping cream


Heat oil in a large pot (like a Dutch oven) over medium-high heat. Add onion, green pepper and jalapeno. Saute about 4 minutes, until soft and onion is translucent. Add garlic and spices. Cook for one minute. Add broth and bring to a boil. Add vegetables, then reduce heat to a simmer and cook until vegetables are tender. Add beans and chicken and cook for 10 minutes. Stir in cream and cook until heated through. Serve.

I served this with skillet corn bread (I just made the recipe on the back of the corn meal container) and honey butter (you just mix a teaspoon of honey with two teaspoons of butter). I had a happy hubby (kids were at other things that night) who came back for seconds and thirds!


Shirley

Yumm-O Chicken Enchiladas

I'm subscribing to way too many cooking magazines. Blame it on my son's cute, cherubic face and the school's magazine drive. He wanted to win a certain prize during the school's magazine drive, and he came home with those wide, puppy dog eyes, and I had a weak moment, and before I knew it, I was getting Rachael Ray magazine, Woman's Day, Gourmet, Bon Appetit, Taste of Home, and I think O at Home (that one hasn't arrived yet).

Meanwhile, I'm still getting Kraft Food and Family, which is one of my favorites. It has easy-peasy recipes, and last night's was especially yummy. We're in the process of getting our house ready to put on the market, and I'm looking for things that give me plenty of time to work on the book that's due in July, and find time to go through closets and drawers. Kraft's Fiesta Chicken Enchiladas fit that bill all around. And it was VERY yummy.

I ended up leaving out the cumin, and tripled the recipe (hey, I have two hungry kids, and I like having leftovers). I didn't want it too spicy, because my youngest won't eat it. I figured the others could always add more salsa on the side if they wanted. I also chopped up extra cilantro for a garnish on top after it came out of the oven. That way, the cilantro got a little warm, and filled the house with that yummy scent.

I served it with a salad, and the kids made rice (I skipped the rice). All good, all around. Definitely a keeper!

Shirley